Smart visitor experience for Hajj, Umrah and mass gatherings
Millions of visitors, dozens of languages, narrow windows of time. Our proposed smart visitor experience for Hajj, Umrah and other mass gatherings uses three building blocks we already ship — Nplay Beam signage, the Halo Box and a multilingual AI avatar — to guide, inform and reassure people from registration to the last ritual.
Guidance at a scale no signboard can handle
At holy sites and pilgrimage seasons the questions are always the same and always urgent: where am I, where is the nearest station, what do I do next, where is my child. A printed sign answers one question in a few languages. It cannot change when a route closes, and it cannot talk back.
In 2024 we prepared a set of technical proposals for the operators of holy sites and pilgrimage seasons in Saudi Arabia, grouped into field services, enrichment services and digital services. Every idea runs on products we deploy today, so a pilot can start in one zone without new platforms. This page presents that proposed programme as we would deploy it — for religious tourism first, and for any mass gathering after that.
What we would deploy
Seven services, three building blocks, one cloud dashboard.
AR wayfinding via QR
A QR code on any Nplay Beam screen opens an AR map. The visitor points the phone camera, sees their position and gets a clear route to the nearest station, gate or ritual location.
Lost-and-found signage
Screens across the site show the location of lost-and-found stations, updated centrally. The same QR route guides a visitor there in their own language.
Multilingual AI avatar kiosks
A multilingual AI avatar kiosk answers questions about rituals, schedules and lost items, on a Halo Box Mini or a phone. A lost visitor is guided step by step; a missing-child report can alert security.
AI receptionist →Multilingual AI avatar kiosksHologram translation and live Q&A stations
Halo Boxes in central areas give instant translation and multilingual explanations, and carry live Q&A sessions with scholars so visitors get direct answers without searching for other sources.
Crowd-level alerts
Nplay Beam pushes real-time crowd levels, available services and reminders to dedicated screens. At peak times, phone notifications suggest alternative routes or timings.
Nplay Beam →Crowd-level alertsSafe 3D experience for children
A multiplayer 3D experience in protected areas lets children visit the sites and learn the rituals remotely, in several languages, without exposure to crowding.
3D worlds →Safe 3D experience for childrenPre-season e-learning
Educational and visual content on performing rituals correctly, delivered through interactive platforms and apps before the visitor travels.
Nplay Scholar →Pre-season e-learningVisitor need by stage, and what answers it
| Stage | Visitor need | Nplay building block |
|---|---|---|
| Before travel | Learn the rituals correctly | E-learning content and apps; multilingual AI avatar on the phone |
| Arrival | Orientation in my language | Nplay Beam welcome screens; AR overlays on physical signboards |
| Moving between sites | Route, crowd level, timing | Crowd-level alerts on screens; phone notifications; QR AR wayfinding |
| At the ritual | Confident answers now | Hologram Q&A stations; kiosk avatar with an approved information bank |
| Something goes wrong | Lost item, lost child, health advice | Lost-and-found signage; avatar reporting to security; health guidance from the avatar |
| Accessibility | Pre-booked assistance | Booking flow for wheelchair services with place-and-time notification |
Proposed programme, one zone at a time
Detailed study
As our proposal states, each idea is customised through a detailed study of the site's challenges and opportunities with the operating teams.
Pilot zone
Nplay Beam players on existing screens, one or two Halo Box stations and a kiosk avatar trained on an approved information bank.
Language and content production
Scripts, ritual guides and AR maps produced in Arabic, English, French and further languages required by the visitor mix.
Season-wide deployment
Scale the screen network, add stations at central points, and connect crowd data so alerts update automatically.
The same programme for any mass gathering
- Stadiums and arenas — crowd-level alerts and gate wayfinding on match days
- Festivals and national-day events — multilingual kiosks and lost-and-found signage
- Airports and transport hubs — AR overlays on signboards, avatar help desks
- Exhibitions and expos — hologram information stations in central halls
- Theme parks and giga-projects — children's safe-zone 3D experiences
- Hospitals and campuses — pre-visit e-learning and accessibility booking
Smart visitor experience: frequently asked questions
Is this smart visitor experience for Hajj and Umrah already deployed?
It is a proposed programme prepared in 2024. The products underneath it are deployed: Nplay Beam runs on 32 branches for a hypermarket chain and on 10 displays at a national memorial in Jordan, and the Halo Box and AI avatar system are available today. We propose starting with a pilot zone.
Who controls what the AI avatar says?
The operator. The avatar answers only from an approved information bank — schedules, ritual guidance, services — that the client's team maintains. Nothing is generated outside that knowledge base.
How does crowd management digital signage get its data?
Nplay Beam publishes whatever the operator's dashboard team schedules or pushes instantly. Crowd levels can be entered manually by control-room staff or connected to the operator's counting systems through the platform's integration layer.
Which languages can the kiosks and holograms handle?
The proposal showed Arabic, English and French. The avatar system is multilingual, so additional languages are added by configuring voice and language packs and translating the information bank.
Can it work where connectivity is congested?
Nplay Beam players keep content available offline and resume sync when the network returns, so screens never go blank. Live features such as Q&A streams need a reserved connection, which we specify in the study.
Keep exploring
Start with one zone this season
Tell us the site, the visitor mix and the three questions people ask most. We will propose a pilot with screens, a kiosk avatar and one hologram station.